Community Partner Organizations

Why and How to Become a Community Partner

You may not know it, but there are groups of college students that are enthusiastic (okay, understatement) to find out about the work your organization is doing in the community. To get ready to work with you, they'll begin meeting months in advance to learn about the social issues you focus on, the historical and cultural context of your community, and your vision and mission. They'll come prepared with skills you've asked them to develop, having fundraised themselves into a position to contribute time and energy to your organization for a week. Over 600 organizations are listed here—we'd love to add yours to the mix!

The SiteBank

The SiteBank is a searchable database, available only to Break Away Chapter schools — over 220 alternative break programs that are committed to building a relationship with the organizations and the communities they serve. With an approved profile, you'll be able to update your information for the eager eyes of student and staff leaders. Profiles include organization and contact information, project details, issues of focus, group size, required equipment and times you're "open" for breakers.

Approval Process

Once you register as a new Community Partner, Break Away staff will be notified and will review your information. We'll then make sure your information is complete, resolve any questions and approve the profile. You'll then get a welcome message and be able to log in with a provided user name and password to update your profile any time you need.

Intermediary Organization (IO)

An Intermediary Organization's (IO) primary function is working with volunteers, rather than working on a specific social issue in a specific community. IOs remain the conduit between an alternative break program and the local Community Partner to provide service and/or housing. Because of this, Break Away has a separate SiteBank listing with different requirements—including a small annual advertisement fee. If your organization recruits volunteers as part of programming, charges set fees to volunteers, and/or has a headquarters located outside the areas of direct service, please register as an Intermediary Organization. Our staff will contact you and begin the process of approval. We value the services and support that you can provide and acknowledge that there are many differences between volunteer facilitation organizations. So, we provide transparency in the SiteBank around the nature of every organization, as well as tools and feedback for Chapter Schools to examine which IOs will work best with their alternative break program and current needs. You can also download the rubric that we provide Chapter schools to determine which Intermediary Organizations best fit into the mission, aims, and priorities of their break experience. For example, some programs may be most concerned about safety, while others place a higher value on connection to a community partner.

Movement-building Extras

What are the movement-building extras that a site can earn?

Movement-building extras are provided to Community Partners who are going above and beyond in supporting quality alternative break work. These extras include participation in a Break Away training (ABCs, a Leadership Retreat, or a Community Impact Lab), winning a Community Partner of the Year award from Break Away, or participating in Community Impact Assessment.